Project Description

On June 2-3, 2014, over 10 cities worldwide stood against the farce elections held in Syria by the dictator Bashar Assad. The worldwide events commenced in front of the United Nations in New York City and for 24 consecutive hours, cities across the globe such as London, Berlin, Paris, and Toronto, read the over 100,000 names of those killed in Syria to pay homage to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.

In protest of the illegitimate elections of Bashar Al-Assad, the goal was to highlight Assad’s real achievements in Syria over the last three years: ongoing genocide, mass displacement, and large-scale destruction. The Assad regime vowed to conquer Syria by force and then feign legitimacy, but with every Syrian name read, another crime was exposed to the world, another name that cannot be ignored.

Lina Sergie, co-founder of the event, said, “Over the past decades, over several genocides in different countries, the international community solemnly vowed: Never again. This June, we will remind the world of this promise to protect which is the right of every human on earth. We will remind them that voting for dictators should never be a choice for any citizen.”

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Los Angeles, USA

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London, UK

Kafranbel, Syria

Frankfurt, Germany

Michigan, USA

Berlin, Germany

Toronto, Canada

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New York City, USA

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New York City, USA

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New York City, USA

Delivering the “Syria’s Book of the Dead” to UNSC Members

After the global reading of the 100,000 martyrs, “A Book of Syria’s Dead” was hand-delivered to each of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council. While many members accepted the book with honor and sadness, some accepted with reluctance.

During the delivery of the book to the Russian Mission, Qusai Zakarya, Kenan Rahmani, and Nada Hashem urged them to stop aiding the Assad regime with military arms and logistical support. They pointed out that Russia was accountable for the war crimes that the Assad regime commits on a daily basis against innocent civilians in Syria. They also noted the teamwork between ISIS and Assad and that such endorsement of terrorism would create an unstable region that would not be in the interest of Russia’s national security.

**Special thanks to the New York Office of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces for facilitating these meetings with the permanent missions belonging to the UNSC members**

Thumbprinting a Portrait Hamza Alkhatib

Outside the United Nations in New York City, as the names of those who were killed were read, participants used red ink to paint the portrait of Hamza AlKhatib with their thumbprints. Voters in Syria must thumbprint their ballots, and so the red thumbprints were used to symbolize the blood of each life lost during the conflict.

“The main idea here is to show the people of Syria that since they haven’t been able to have a proper memorial, this is working as a memorial for Syrians and for other to people to see that the people who have died, have not died in vain,” said 17-year-old Noor Mamlouk, “and that they are never going to be forgotten.”